Be it resolved...the Catholic way

As New Year's approaches, it's time for the venerable tradition of making New Year's resolutions. Most of us (especially those of us who do not live alone) don't have to work too hard to come up with areas of our life that need resolution, but coming up with effective and realistic resolutions can be a challenge. That's where the wisdom of the saints comes in. Well, in this case, the wisdom of the Blessed, because I'm taking this from Bl. James Alberione:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you to recognize the one major area you need to focus on, whether it is a positive step forward, or more a matter of a dominant weakness that consistently brings you down. (For those of us who live with other people, it's not too hard to come up with ideas; the challenge is not to try to bring everything into line at once!)

2. Give your resolution (the Italian word is so much better: proposito, proposal) more than one dimension, so that the goal is reinforced according to what we now call "multiple intelligences." Alberione suggests a threefold strategy:

• Involve your mind so you feed your resolve with a continual source of intellectual support, making a commitment to learn more about your goal, for instance; 
• Address the behavioral aspect with a strong, practical plan (the kind you can evaluate at the end of the day: "Did I put this into practice? How well?" or "What got in my way?"); 
• Engage your heart by choosing a way to pray daily over the good you are aiming for. You could choose a short scripture verse that connects to the resolution, and repeat that a few times a day like a mantra, or choose a time of day that you want to set apart for prayer to renew your resolution in God's presence, asking for grace to see it through.

3. If you are really brave, entrust your resolution to a spiritual director or a friend who is committed to the spiritual life, so that they can encourage you (or hold you to account).

4. Above all, entrust your resolution to the Lord!

Something to look forward to...

A taste of Fr. Barron's enormous "Catholicism" project!

I shrank it by half, so if it's too small (or distorted), just go straight to the source.

Free time

Our bookcenter was closed yesterday to give the sisters a community day and Juan a day off. I took advantage of the opportunity to do two of my favorite things: reading and cooking. In this particular case, baking. And what was I reading about? Baking.

I thoroughly enjoyed William Alexander's book detailing not only his personal "pursuit of a perfect crust" but the history of bread, the processes involved, the tools of the trade, the unexpected aspects of flour production (Wait 'til the TSA finds out that flour dust is highly explosive!) and how the wrong kind of milling process may have decimated the South in the early twentieth century.  I especially enjoyed Alexander's relating of how he ended up in a 7th century Norman monastery, teaching the monks (in French!) how to bake artisan bread--when  he was still figuring that out himself. Oh, and how he grew wheat in his family garden, and ground it (some of it, anyway) with an Indian grinding stone. That part made me laugh out loud. (Now I want to read about his gardening exploits!)


As for me, I'm  not ready to tackle bread (although Alexander really made it tempting). And I'm not above using the community's donated bread machine. In fact, that is exactly what I used to prepare the dough for two projects this weekend, both of which took advantage of the ingredients we received as Christmas gifts. I made a pear-custard dessert (two of them, actually, one prettier than the other, but that's the one that got eaten immediately) and a braided, fruit-filled roll. Which was supposed to come out raised and puffy.

Maybe next time.

"The heart of God stooped down to the stable: the humility of God is heaven. And if we approach this humility, then we touch heaven."
Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas Novena, Day 9

"In the stable at Bethlehem, heaven and earth meet. Heaven has come down to earth. For this reason, a light shines from the stable for all times; for this reason, joy is kindled there; for this reason, song is born there."
Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas Novena, Day 8

"The stable in the Christmas message represents the ill-treated world. Christ came to restore beauty and dignity to creation: this is what began and Christmas and makes the Angels rejoice. The earth is restored to good order by virtue of the fact that it is opened up to God, it obtains its true light anew, and it regains its beauty and dignity. Thus, Christmas is a feast of restored creation."
Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas Novena, Day 7

"The message of Christmas makes us recognize the darkness of a closed world, a reality that we see daily. Yet it also tells us that God does not allow himself to be shut out! He finds a space, even if it means entering through the stable."
Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas Novena, Day 6

"There is no room at the inn. In some way, mankind is awaiting God, waiting for him to draw near.
But when the moment comes, 'There is no room' for him."
Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas Novena, Day 5

"The Encounter with Jesus Christ makes us capable of hearing the song of the Angels..."
Pope Benedict XVI

Christmas Novena, Day 4

The Internet, Your Brain and Your Inner Life

Has the 24/7 availability of information and entertainment (at your very fingertips) eroded your ability (or desire) to focus on the Lord in prayer, or created a kind of compulsive activism in your spirit?
It's a question I have to ask myself frequently: am I using the amazing potential of the Internet in the best way, not just for my work but for my spiritual good? It's so easy to zip from click to click, page to page, from an insightful article to a trivial quiz to a family Elf-yourself...and there's no doubt that this repeated pattern, day by day and now year by year leaves its traces in the way my brain continues to form neural networks. For better or for worse, I have an Internet brain. And that's the brain I bring to prayer, too, for better or for worse. (I have to admit, it's not always for better.)
What does an Internet brain tend to do? Flit from topic to topic like the butterfly Teresa of Avila used as an image of distraction in prayer. Does this mean that my prayer life is doomed to follow the butterfly's irregular, zig-zagging style? Only, hints Christine Neulieb in a recent essay for Commonweal, if I let it by refusing to train my own brain through moderation in the way (not just the amount of time) I use the Internet.
We can, Neulieb says, "create boundaries for [the Internet's] involvement in our lives, or let it shape us as it pleases..... [W]hether it will make us better or worse people.... is up to us." Neulieb knows that the phenomenon of Internet brain fuzz (admittedly my term) didn't really start with the Internet; it just exacerbates human tendencies to self-indulgence that the ancients knew and wrote about and that spiritual authors applied to the life of prayer. What makes Neulieb's essay so interesting is that she tackles the issues of "your brain on Google" in the light of the classical spiritual language of virtue.
I plan to bring this article back to my attention (and yours!) at Lent, but even now, the days before Christmas and as we start thinking about New Year's resolutions, it is very helpful.

Christmas Novena, Day 3 and a note about the Church in China

Yesterday the Holy See issued a statement about the forced participation of China's bishops in a national assembly (a so-called episcopal conference, but one coordinated by government agencies).
Usually the Vatican has used conciliatory language in handling the many problems that arise from China's attempt to keep the veneer of religious freedom polished while maintaining a firm grip on religious activities. This time, the gloves came off. The Holy See publicly accused China of cowardice ("fear and weakness") and intransigent intolerance, and spoke of "unacceptable and hostile acts" on the part of the government.
The document does not entirely spare the collaborating bishops, either, but also addresses people who may be scandalized that their bishop--or any bishop--took part in what is for all practical purposes an act of schism: "take account of the pressures experienced by many of their pastors and ... pray for them; ... continue courageously supporting them in the face of the unjust impositions that they encounter in the exercise of their ministry.
Pope Benedict has asked for special prayers for the Church in China; maybe we can include that as a special intention in the remaining week of our Christmas Novena.

Here's Day 3:

Christmas Novena, Day 2

I thought I had scheduled our "traditional" Christmas novenas on YouTube to post each day. Oops.
I hope you picked up Day 1 on Facebook yesterday!
Here's Day 2, with the first of the O Antiphons: praise of Eternal Wisdom, recognized as Creator and trusted as Providence, and a plea for the virtue of prudence (practical wisdom):
O Wisdom, Who comes forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: come and teach us the way of prudence.

Jesus and John

Did you notice how much we've been hearing about John the Baptist these past two weeks? It continues today: John's messengers have carried out their mission, asking Jesus to clarify his place in God's plan: "Are you 'the coming One' or are we still waiting?" The messengers head back to Herod's prison with the answer Jesus gave them for John, and Jesus turns to the crowds.
You know those crowds. We still have them today. You and I may have been in such a crowd ourselves: the people who hear of an exotic religious phenomenon, and go to see for ourselves what all the fuss is about. Reported apparition? Dynamic preacher? Healing ministry? Living saint? Think of the crowds that gathered wherever Bl. Teresa of Calcutta was expected to be. Those are the people Jesus was talking to when the messengers came and went. So he turned his attention back to them. And he talked about their desires and expectations. "What did you go out to the desert to see?"
Just like we do today, they had gone far out of their way to see someone unusual, someone charismatic. Not, Jesus says, "a reed swaying in the winds" of the culture or someone fabulously outfitted. They went out to the desert to see a prophet. "And more than a prophet," Jesus added.
More than a prophet.
If Jesus says that about John, what is he saying about himself?
What is he saying about us, today, if "the least in the Kingdom of God is greater than" John?

Digital Nativity Story

Maybe you've seen this already on Facebook... It's based on a Brazilian original (that has already had 1.2 million views!)
How would you tell the Good News?

Remnants

I first came across the concept of remnants when I was about eight, shortly after Santa* had left a child-size Singer electric sewing machine under the tree for me. The Singer shop in the local plaza (they didn't call them "strip malls" then) had a section of "remnants," which I recognized as perfect for crafts and for making doll clothes (or, in the singular, a doll "cloe"). I still find myself drawn to the remnants at Jo-Ann's or Michael's: think of the possibilities!
The ending of today's first reading tells us of the possibilities God sees in the remnant of his people. It's a combination of the beatitude of the meek (who inherit the land) and the story of the shepherds of Bethlehem:

I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly,
Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD:
the remnant of Israel.
They shall do no wrong and speak no lies;
Nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue;
They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them.

Overall, the reading is a call to repentance and conversion; the predicted "remnant" are those left untouched by the purifying correction the Lord will visit on the people. The Gospel is also an encouragement to conversion, with tax collectors and prostitutes representing the newly-righteous remnant.
Pope Benedict has said on more than one occasion that the Church may need to be a smaller, more faithful remnant if it is to fulfill its role, and he has been mightily criticized over that, as if he were consigning everyone else to Gehenna. He's not suggesting anything that the prophets--and Jesus--have not already said. The real question is: what is God proposing to you or me as a way to belong to that remnant? What does it mean taking on? What does it mean leaving behind?



*This was the year I realized that Mom and Dad were Santa's unremunerated assistants in the Christmas enterprise, and I was invited to join the team.

Of flutes and mourning

Jesus is speaking to the cynical members of the crowds, the type who have been holding him and John to different standards and finding fault with them both. On the one hand, John is too ascetic. On the other, Jesus is too much of a bon vivant in their sanctimonious eyes.  (Don't you love it that when God came to earth, he was accused of having too much fun?) And Jesus basically tells them, "If I played the flute, you wouldn't dance; If I sang a dirge, you wouldn't cry: You'd stay distant and 'objective,' but without the wisdom that would give your life flavor."
When God plays the flute for us, he wants us to get into the music--to dance. When he sings a mournful song, he is offering us communion with his grief. The flute and the dirge can both express divine wisdom.
I've been hearing the dirge lately, event though we've been singing Christmas joy.  A sister I am very close to has been diagnosed with cancer (though we don't yet know what stage it is). So today's Gospel resonates. "There is an appointed time for everything."  For all I know, my friend's diagnosis could be the announcement of a new mission in her life, and the doctors and nurses who will care for her a new flock for her to shepherd even as they work to restore her well-being. God may well be playing the flute in a mysterious key.
Maybe that's why the opening words of today's Eucharistic Prayer struck me so much that I am using my rosary beads to pray them over and over: "Father, we acknowledge your  greatness; all your actions show your wisdom and love."

Human Rights Day--and how!

When I hear a priest repeat the old truism that "while we will probably not face martyrdom, we can still witness..." I've begun thinking of the many parts of the world where that assumption simply doesn't ring true. Just think of China, where, right now, Catholic bishops were basically kidnapped and locked up in a "meeting" and told to elect a head of their "official" (i.e., government-sanctioned) bishops' conference. One bishop was being protected by his people from the government agents that were sent to arrest--I mean "escort"--him; the agents used enough force to send one of the laity to the hospital.
In Pakistan, the anti-blasphemy laws leave all Christians vulnerable to the death sentence--and those laws were recently upheld by the nation's high court.
And I haven't even gotten to Iraq or Sudan, yet.
So today's UN "Human Rights Day" has real meaning for us, even on the religious level.
Here's a write-up from the Pontifical Missions news service:

Karachi (Agenzia Fides) - “Human Rights Day 2010 is an opportunity to focus attention on the sections of the Penal Code that constitute the so-called blasphemy laws. The law is a blatant violation of human rights, permitted and legitimized by the State. It is a measure that allows and justifies injustices, discrimination and persecution. It is a law to abolish,” stated Father Mario Rodrigues, director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Pakistan, to Fides, on the eve of World Day for Human Rights, sponsored by the UN and celebrated tomorrow, 10 December. This Day, the director told Fides, “comes at a time of great tension in the Country, due to the echoes of Asia Bibi's case, a Christian woman sentenced to death exactly as a result of the blasphemy law. The uncertainty and threats from terrorist groups are a real nightmare for all those who defend the woman.”

“The blasphemy law, said Fr Rodrigues, “openly contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which Pakistan is a signatory. It is a law promulgated by the dictator Zia and never approved by any Parliament. Laws are made to protect citizens, not persecute them,” he added.

The law affects religious minorities, but not only them: “Many Muslim faithful are also victims,” he said. “So I would remind people what prominent moderate Muslim leaders say: the law also represents a betrayal of Islam, as it is not contained in the Koran, and the Prophet Muhammad certainly would not want violence and murder to be committed in his name. As Christians of Pakistan, we believe it is important for justice and civil society that the law be abolished, and we support any proposed revision,” he continued.

Human Rights Day 2010 is dedicated by the UN particularly to all those activists who are committed to defending and promoting human rights. Father Rodrigues remarked: “Thinking of the history of Pakistan, I would like to dedicate this Day to Bishop John Joseph, who 20 years ago launched a major campaign for the respect of human rights and religious minorities in our Country. We are all heirs and debtors to his battle and his courage. I should mention, also, two campaigners for human rights who today continue this work: Father Emmanuel Mani and Peter Jacob, Director and Executive Secretary respectively of the National Commission for Justice and Peace mission of the Bishops of Pakistan. These are two people with the courage of truth, defending the victims of abuses of human rights, belonging to any religious community.” (PA) (Agenzia Fides 09/12/2010)

Christmas books for kids

It's not too late to get some fabulous Christmas books and activities for kids (great way to make the Christmas novena!)...

Jesse Tree Kit: make your own ornaments of Jesus' family tree!	Crafts, stories,  puzzles--even recipes!
Stickers! (Need I say more?)	Make your own nativity scene with cut-outs!  (My nieces loved this one.)	On-the-scene reporting live from Bethlehem!  (Makes a great skit.)
	Classic Christmas story.
For tiny kids: a counting story.	A real picture book--no words!

And background music for the season:

or get it on iTunes.

A Man Named John

Make that two men named John, courtesy of today's Liturgy.
The first one "appeared in the desert, eating locusts and wild honey": John the Baptist. He also appears (by way of reference) in today's Gospel, where Jesus says John was the "greatest of all men born of woman." Greater than Abraham, who "believed and was justified"; greater than David, "a man after My own Heart." And yet a man who deliberately marginalized himself, withdrawing from the Levitical priesthood that was his by birth and even withdrawing from ordinary society, in order to better hear God's word and become "a voice in the desert, crying 'Prepare the way of the Lord!'"
The other John is the saint of the day, the humble Juan Diego. This John, too, lived in the desert. Juan Diego also deliberately marginalized himself, but in a different way than the Baptizer. Where the Baptizer had been born into a priestly family, Juan Diego was an unremarkable peasant among a conquered people. But he had marginalized himself even from his native people by becoming a Christian--one of the few early converts the Spanish missionaries managed to win.
But both men were "sent ahead" to prepare their people to receive the Lord. And in both men's lives, it was an encounter with Mary that made all the difference. Both of them, I think, could repeat the amazed words of the Baptizer's mother, Elizabeth: "Who am I, that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?"

Philadelphia! and an update

Can you tell that Sr Bridget (not to mention the concert schedule) has been keeping us busy? Thursday night was our fund-raiser event on Staten Island--our biggest concert, too. We had over 600 guests, including our celebrity co-chair, Chazz Palimteri (of "A Bronx Tale"). Chazz is a really lovely person, quite the opposite of his usual on-screen persona. He made himself available for photos and then gave a little intro to our program. To help with the fund raising aspect (proceeds this year are for our education fund), he even ran a little auction for a guided tour of the "Bronx Tale" neighborhood, with a shopping spree and lunch with him at one of his favorite spots. (This is the sort of thing New Yorkers really love, and the bidding was exciting.)
The next morning we were at Newark airport, en route to Cleveland for the Friday night concert at St John's Cathedral. Bishop Lennon (our dear friend and former chaplain) was there to meet us as we arrived in the baggage claim area. The turnout that evening was really good, almost filling the cathedral! And the bishop treated us to dinner at one of his favorite spots along the lake--quite a late meal for us, but it was delightful.
Saturday was our "free" day, spent almost entirely in returning to the New York area. This is when I had my first experience of the new "enhanced security" process. I saw that the TSA agents were simply directing everyone into the back-scatter X-ray booth. You had to already know you had an option to take it, which I did. It caused a bit of ruckus. (I was, as far as I know, the only person in the line at that time who opted out of the enhanced body scan.) The female agent just told me to keep an eye on the stuff I had put on the belt while she did the pat-down. (I really didn't like that idea; you could do nothing if someone decided to help themselves to your computer while you were under the agent's guard.) I asked what happened to my stuff if I chose the private screening. (They bring it into the booth.) Not that I had a whole lot of stuff with me this time (no computer, for instance), but in order to be able to write about the experience for you, my beloved and faithful readers, I chose the private screening.
It took a while for them to find a second female agent for that: they have to have one agent to perform the actual pat-down and another as a witness. Naturally, their first priority is to protect themselves, but I also appreciated having a witness, because it dimishes the likelihood of being subjected to arbitrary abuse of authority. (I think we passengers are in the most vulnerable situation possible under the TSA: we do not have access to our phones, cameras--or even our shoes!) The pat-down itself was not as intrusive as I had read about or feared--not at all. It just takes a lot more time.
I also noticed an odd impulse after it was over: I felt I should apologize to the agents for having troubled them by not going along with the system! Naturally, I stifled that impulse, but I found it very interesting that I should feel that way: that I had, in choosing an option that is legally available and perfectly legitimate, caused a disruption of their routine! Later, speaking about my experience with one of the sisters, I learned something else: the reason the TSA can do this sort of unmotivated search even of a citizen's person is that our 4th Amendment rights do not apply on airport territory. It is written into the law that way. I had no idea that I was giving up a constitutional right like that when making my travel plans! Well, since they found no indication of combustible chemicals on my person, I was able to take the grey container with my shoes and 1-qt zip-seal bag of liquids and gels and resume "normal" life.
That was Saturday. Yesterday afternoon we had a concert at St. Paul's church in Princeton, and from there we drove to Philadelphia.
We are staying at the convent of Nazareth Hospital with the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. I first encountered this community when I attended the summer program at St. Charles Seminary and met Sr Mary McDevitt (are you coming tonight?). The CSFN sisters were founded in Poland (eleven of their sisters were martyred by the Nazis for having sheltered priests) but their foundress is something of a Polish Mother Cabrini: she came to the US herself 125 years ago (leaving half of her sisters in Poland to continue their work there),  became an American citizen--and is now known as Blessed Mary of Jesus the Good Shcpherd.
Last night, we were (again!) treated to dinner, this time at an Olive Garden. As we waited for a big enough table to be cleared (for our party of 14), a family passed through the entrance. One of the children looked at us with surprise and announced, "Look, Mama: Sisters!"
This could only happen in Philadelphia. Everywhere else, children either stare at us or (if they are a bit older and more socialized to be polite) steal curious glances. Here in Philly, there is such a strong presence of women religious in the schools, nuns are not some kind of memory that only older adults possess. I am praying that this visible presence of sisters in Philadelphia continues to inspire vocations, too. Especially for...us and for the generous CSFNs.
Tonight: a modest fund-raiser at Father Judge High School. Tomorrow: back on the road, heading for Boston.
Prayers needed!